Reel.



J B. GREEN.

REEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAILZG. 1911.

1 ,2? 1,308. Patented July 2, 1918.

J BIRCHARD GREEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 CHICAGO-STEEL ANDWIRE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION F IL IN I REEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1918.

Application filed March 26, 1917. Serial N 0. 157,326.

To all whomct may concern:

Be it-known that I, J BIRCHARD GREEN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Reels, of which the following is aspecification.

This is an improvement on the reel covered by my prior applicationSerial No. 32,490, filed June 7, 1915.

My invention relates to reels for holding the wire from which thestaples are made on a stapling machine or wire stit-c-her, or for otherurposes, and more particularly to reels of that kind in which one flangeis removable to permit the loading of the reel with a coil of wire. H

Generally stated, the object of my invention is to provide a novel andimproved construction whereby a .reel of the foregoing. generalcharacter is provided with permanent means for supporting the wire, andwith a removable flange which is screwed into position to engage saidmeans, so that said flange is frictionally held by said means againstrotation on the threaded tube which forms the connection between the twoflanges or the ends between which the coil of wire" is held in positionon the reel.

It is also an object to provide certain de tails and features ofconstruction and combinations tending to increase the general efiiciencyand desirability of a reel of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, my invention consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings F i 'ure 1 is a side elevation of a reelembodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of said reel, with the separable flangethereof shown removed.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a metal tube A which has itsouter surface threaded, and upon one end of which the flange B is fixedand rigidly held in position. This fixed flange, which is preferably inthe form of a disk, has its inner side provided with a frusto-conicalcup section C, the bottom of this cup section being integral with theflange. A disk D is provided at its center with an opening, and a boss dis formed on the inner surface of said disk or flange D, around saidopening, and the entire central opening is threaded to permit thisflange to be screwed upon the other end of the tube A, whereby the reeliscompleted to support the wire. When screwed into position, the innersurface of the flange D is engaged by the rim 0 of the cup section C,and this limits the movement of the flange D toward the flange B, andaffords a frictional contact to prevent rotation of the removableflange. As the screw threads on the tube A extend beyond the inner endof the boss d, when the flange D is screwed into position, it followsthat the removable flange will never be screwed too tightly upon thetube, so that it would not be readily removable; but at the same timethe diameter of the rim 0 of the cup section is so great that thefrictional contact thereof with the inner surface of the disk D is atpoints a considerable distance from the sides of the threaded tube A,and the friction is suflicient to prevent the flange D from rotatingrelative to the flange B while the reel is in use. The cup section C ispreferably tapered toward the flange D, and provided with grooves Ewhich extend from one flange to the other, and with this formation thecoil or bundle of wire is easily slipped over the end of the cupsection, after the flange D is removed, and the loading of the reel isfacilitated.

In practice, the wire is manufactured and shipped in coils or annularbundles, with bindings of wire on each bundle to hold the coil in shape.These coils or bundles, with the bindings thereon, are placed on thereel, in the manner described, and the taper of the cup section 0 andthe provision of the grooves E makes it possible to do this very easilyand conveniently, as the coil of wire can readily be slipped over thesmaller end of the cup section and then forced toward the flange B untilthe cup section fits tightly within the coil. The recesses E not onlyserve to lighten the structure of the reel,

and to provide a. grooved or serrated surface which will more securelyhold the coil of wire against rotation in the reel, but also to providechannels for the bindings on the coil of wire, which bindings areusually in the form of short pieces of wire inserted through the centralopening of the coil and then bent around so that their ends can betwisted together to tightly bind the strands or convolutions of the coiltogether. These short pieces of wire or bindings can be cut off orremoved after the coil is thus placed on the reel, if such is desirableor necessary. The recess F or interior of the cup section serves notonly to lighten the structure of the reel, but also to provide a chamberto receive the boss (Z on the inner surface of the removable flange. Inuse, brakes of different kinds are sometimes applied to reels of thiskind, by engagement with the flanges .10 Aof the reel, and with theconstruction shown and described this is possible without loosening theremovable flange of the reel, as when it is screwed up tightly itengages the rim 0 of the cup section with sufficient pressure andfriction to prevent relative rotation between the two flanges during theuse of the reel. But when it is desired to load the reel with a freshsupply of -wire, the entire reel can be removed from the spindle orarbor usually provided for this purpose, upon which the tube A rotates,and the flange D can then be removed by hand or with tools, in anysuitable and desired manner.

The fixed disk B, and its integral cup section C, can be secured to thetube A in any suitable or desired manner. For example, it can be shrunkon the tube, or it can be cast on the tube, or the tube can be insertedand then expanded and riveted over at its end.

Vhat I claim as my invention is 1. A reel for wire, comprising a tube, a

fixed flange rigidly secured to one end of said tube and provided with afrusto-conical cup section inclosing said tube, and a removable flangescrewed upon the other end of said tube and engaged by the rim of saidcup section to frictionally prevent rotation of said removable flange,said cup section forming a support for the wire, and the taper of thecup section serving to facilitate the loadingof the reel, substantiallyas described.

2. The said reel, as set forth in claim 1, in which said cup section istapered internally to form a solid wall which is thicker than the fixedflange and in which said tube is permanently inserted.

3. The said reel, as set forth in claim 1, in Which said tube isprovided with screwthreads extending into the cup section, and saidremovable flange has its inner side formed with a central boss whichengages said screw-threads within the cup section, but saidscrew-threads extending beyond the end of said boss when said removableflange is against the cup section.

4. The said reel, as set forth in claim 1, in which said cup section iscast integral with said fixed flange, and said tube is driven into saidcup section.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 20th day of March, 1917.

J BIRCHARD GREEN.

